Thursday, August 5, 2010

My View

Random thoughts from a warped and fevered mind...

More and more, we are finding the land mines that our "friends" in Congress have hidden in the socialized medicine bill that they passed earlier this year. The latest to come to light is a tax buried deep in the 2700 page bill that creates a tax on home sales. That's right, sell your home after 2012 and you will be subject to a 3.8% sales tax on the total value of the transaction. Currently, the first $500,000 in gain from the sale of your primary residence is exempt from any capital gains tax. Now, under this hidden piece of legislation, all sellers are subject to a 3.8% sales tax from the first dollar. For example, if you sell your home for $200,000, you will owe $7600 in sales tax. That tax is assessed regardless of the balance of your first mortgage. In my example, if your first mortgage is $100,000 and you sell your house for the aforementioned $200,000, you will owe the 3.8% not only on the gain, but also on the balance of the first mortgage, or $7600. This tax takes more money out of the pocket of the American public that has built a substantial portion of their wealth through home ownership. Consider what will happen to people, such as your parents, who are empty nesters and want to downsize their house. You can count on more surprises surfacing as the full extent of this odious bill are brought to light. I'm not sure that we need "friends" like this in Congress.

I wonder, is it okay to use an AM radio after noon?

Remember that stimulus program that was passed last year and is being touted as saving so many jobs? Wonder where that money has been spent? Besides buying off unions, here are some examples of where your tax dollars have been employed. According to ABC News, researchers at Wake Forest University received $300,000 to study whether yoga can be an effective method of reducing hot flashes in breast cancer survivors. The California Academy of Science received $1,000,000 to send researchers to East Africa and the Southwest Indian Ocean islands to photograph exotic ants. The U.S. Forest Service received $500,000 to replace windows in an unused visitor center at Mount. St. Helens.The City of Boynton, OK, received $90,000 to replace a quarter mile stretch of sidewalk that is five years old. British Petroleum (BP) of gulf oil spill fame, received $175 million to participate in Hydrogen Energy California to build a power plant that will not break ground for another two years.And the list goes on and on. Think about this the next time you hear a politician from either party say that we have to have more stimulus (read: your tax dollars) dollars to "save jobs and bolster the economy".

A friend of mine told me his wife was an angel. I said that he was lucky, because mine is still alive.

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the number of new boards, agencies, and commissions created under the socialized medicine program passed by Congress is "unknowable". The reason- the language in this bill lacks specificity and is purposely vague. For instance, the law has a section entitled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The wording of the law says that a newly created agency called the Patient Centered Research Institute "may appoint permanent or ad hoc expert advisory panels as 'determined appropriate' by the institute." How many panels will be appointed is obviously unclear. The problem, besides the impending proliferation of more bureaucracies, is that there appears to be no oversight on these panels or commissions. As Americans, we are going to faced with a maze of bureaucrats, commissions, and panels, that will be involved with our health and any treatment all with little to no oversight. What happens to one of us when a healthcare decision is rendered by one of these bureaucracies and we have no recourse or way to appeal the decision? This is one of the more troublesome aspects of the socialized medical bill- our healthcare decisions are going to be taken away from the doctor/patient relationship and transferred to bureaucrats with little recourse for us as citizens and patients. This is indeed a very scary proposition.

I have learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do stalk them and hope they give in.